Mr. Pointy Sticks and I will be having dinner Thursday night with Katharine Weber, so I pulled her latest book -- True Confections -- off my TBR stack and started it yesterday afternoon. And then I stayed up until 2 a.m. reading it and finished it off this afternoon. What a fun book! There seems to be more humor in this one than in the other books of Katharine's. The narrator, Alice Tatnall Ziplinsky, is witty and quite articulate and, as you read on, you realize that she's perhaps not completely reliable. At a young age she finds a job at the Zip's Candy factory and, soon after, she marries into the Ziplinsky family. The book is one long affadavit she is giving that covers the history of the company...and reveals some family and company secrets.
Another recommendation for all you faithful readers!
I have the unhappy task of knitting up some chemo caps for my cousin's wife...wish I didn't have to do so. I started one Friday and had to rip it out yesterday because there was no way it would fit over anyone's head. Started it up again last night and am back to about where I was when I ripped it out. It's just a simple beanie. I have plans for some prettier ones, too.
And tomorrow it's a new work week...but only four days, as I'm taking Friday off.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A Side-Step Into Politics...And Teeth
People who know me know that I am not a gung-ho political sort of person. I was excited about Obama...it was so nice to have a candidate (and then a President) who could string words together in an intelligent fashion...who didn't talk like a brain-damaged five-year old...someone who seemed rational and smart and willing to listen. I still like Obama (and love Michelle and the girls), and would support him again in 2012, should he decide to run...but I'm also a little disappointed in him and in the Democrats altogether. They've done a lot but I think they could have done more if they hadn't been so eager to try to work with the Republicans...who showed, ultimately, that they aren't interested in compromise at all and seem to have no ideas of their own. And don't get me started on the Tea Party idiots.
But there are a lot of people out there whining about taxes and the economy and the terrible, terrible debt that Obama has rung up. And in case anyone out there runs into these sorts of people and feels like engaging with them, here are some facts that surprised me:
But there are a lot of people out there whining about taxes and the economy and the terrible, terrible debt that Obama has rung up. And in case anyone out there runs into these sorts of people and feels like engaging with them, here are some facts that surprised me:
1) Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman’s presidency (USA Today).
2) This year we created 863,000 jobs in the private sector contrasting 673,000 lost under Bush (FactCheck.org).
3)The 10 year $1.1 trillion cost of the Medicare drug program, passed by a GOP WH/Congress, by itself would add more to the deficit than the bailout, stimulus, and health care law COMBINED (CBO).
In the area of teeth...I was back to Dr. Lambrow this afternoon for impressions. (I asked if he'd do Groucho Marx and he laughed a little (like he's never heard that before!) and then turned around and wiggled his fingers cigar-style and said "Say the magic woid!" Have I mentioned that I love my dentist?) I didn't think it would be a big deal but I got two big shots of Novocaine and am home now with it beginning to wear off...things are a little achy now in the sort of way that makes me think they might be more achy later. Given all the grappling and ramming and tamping and oozing and squirting that was going on in my mouth, I am very grateful (as always) for the numbing. Back in three weeks to get the real porcelain teeth installed.
In the area of teeth...I was back to Dr. Lambrow this afternoon for impressions. (I asked if he'd do Groucho Marx and he laughed a little (like he's never heard that before!) and then turned around and wiggled his fingers cigar-style and said "Say the magic woid!" Have I mentioned that I love my dentist?) I didn't think it would be a big deal but I got two big shots of Novocaine and am home now with it beginning to wear off...things are a little achy now in the sort of way that makes me think they might be more achy later. Given all the grappling and ramming and tamping and oozing and squirting that was going on in my mouth, I am very grateful (as always) for the numbing. Back in three weeks to get the real porcelain teeth installed.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Fresh, Fresh Seafood!
Which is both what we ate and where we ate this evening. Fresh, Fresh Seafood is a restaurant in Towson and this evening Don took us, and his sister who is visiting from Texas, out to dinner. The chef (and only employee this evening) is Rick, a charming host. And what did we eat?
We started out with some friend clams...very tasty.
For dinner, I had the fried shrimp, mac and cheese and collard greens with smoked turkey.
Tasty, but an awful lot of food...I couldn't finish. And while the shrimp were good, very tender and sweet, I sort of wish I had gotten something that wasn't fried. I'm not sure how well it'll be sitting later, all this fried stuff. (As it turned out...just fine. And really, for being fried, the shrimp were light and not greasy.) The collards were a little bitter but the smoked turkey was lovely. The mac and cheese was good too...I'd like to try some when there wasn't so much other food competing for my attention!
Mr. Pointy Sticks made, I think, a wiser choice...
Orange roughy in lemon butter sauce and a baked potato and garden salad. Nothing special in the salad but all the ingredients looked incredibly crisp and fresh and the tomato looked like a tomato with real flavor.
So, the food was good, but jesus, the service was slow. I know that Rick was working on his own. But for the first hour we were the only people there (four more came in while we were there) and it took us two hours before we got the check. A little more time than I want to take on a work night.
Would I go back? Definitely...though I think I'd like to go at lunchtime because they had a seafood platter on the lunch menu that sounded yummy...shrimp and scallops and fish. I should have asked...I might have been able to order that last night.
We started out with some friend clams...very tasty.
For dinner, I had the fried shrimp, mac and cheese and collard greens with smoked turkey.
Tasty, but an awful lot of food...I couldn't finish. And while the shrimp were good, very tender and sweet, I sort of wish I had gotten something that wasn't fried. I'm not sure how well it'll be sitting later, all this fried stuff. (As it turned out...just fine. And really, for being fried, the shrimp were light and not greasy.) The collards were a little bitter but the smoked turkey was lovely. The mac and cheese was good too...I'd like to try some when there wasn't so much other food competing for my attention!
Mr. Pointy Sticks made, I think, a wiser choice...
Orange roughy in lemon butter sauce and a baked potato and garden salad. Nothing special in the salad but all the ingredients looked incredibly crisp and fresh and the tomato looked like a tomato with real flavor.
So, the food was good, but jesus, the service was slow. I know that Rick was working on his own. But for the first hour we were the only people there (four more came in while we were there) and it took us two hours before we got the check. A little more time than I want to take on a work night.
Would I go back? Definitely...though I think I'd like to go at lunchtime because they had a seafood platter on the lunch menu that sounded yummy...shrimp and scallops and fish. I should have asked...I might have been able to order that last night.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Another One Bites The Dust
Another weekend, that is.
We got a good bit done today...especially for us. Got some shopping done and washed both cars. Cleaned out the floor of the bedroom closet and put together a number of bags of clothes and shoes and such for the next charity that calls. I cleaned our bathroom yesterday and it's all sparkly now. I got some knitting done, too...several rows of the hat I cannot show here. (Some of the rows are rather complicated and take quite a while.) And I got the silly hat that I posted about below finished.
(The leaf on the end of the hat is curling...which I was afraid of. I mean, it's stockinette, of course it's going to curl. I am thinking that I might try to back it with a piece of fleece...or I guess I could knit up a second little leaf and sew it on the back and let the two opposing curls cancel each other out. That's probably the easiest thing to do.)
Oh, and guess what I found in the closet! The start of a sweater. I have no memory of this sweater. It's nice enough...I wonder if I can figure out how to finish it...I think it just needs sleeves. Good thing that no buggies had found it.
And got some reading done...I'm reading Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself and really enjoying it. It's a big sprawling fantasy novel...the first of the trilogy. I already have the next two volumes in my Amazon shopping cart.
So, boring as this post is, here it is...dedicated to my sick brother. Here you are, bro. Something dull to read! (Hope you're feeling better.)
We got a good bit done today...especially for us. Got some shopping done and washed both cars. Cleaned out the floor of the bedroom closet and put together a number of bags of clothes and shoes and such for the next charity that calls. I cleaned our bathroom yesterday and it's all sparkly now. I got some knitting done, too...several rows of the hat I cannot show here. (Some of the rows are rather complicated and take quite a while.) And I got the silly hat that I posted about below finished.
(The leaf on the end of the hat is curling...which I was afraid of. I mean, it's stockinette, of course it's going to curl. I am thinking that I might try to back it with a piece of fleece...or I guess I could knit up a second little leaf and sew it on the back and let the two opposing curls cancel each other out. That's probably the easiest thing to do.)
Oh, and guess what I found in the closet! The start of a sweater. I have no memory of this sweater. It's nice enough...I wonder if I can figure out how to finish it...I think it just needs sleeves. Good thing that no buggies had found it.
And got some reading done...I'm reading Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself and really enjoying it. It's a big sprawling fantasy novel...the first of the trilogy. I already have the next two volumes in my Amazon shopping cart.
So, boring as this post is, here it is...dedicated to my sick brother. Here you are, bro. Something dull to read! (Hope you're feeling better.)
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